I am collecting entries in reincarnation

Chapter 583 Before the Test
The next day, a not-so-wide ox cart was parked at the entrance of Dongjia Village.

Today is the day of the boy's examination. There are three people in the village taking the exam. Li Ming is the youngest, and there is another one who is eighteen and one who is twenty-seven. The twenty-seventh one is the eldest son of the village chief. His surname is Dong and his name is Dong Yan. He has taken the exam many times but failed repeatedly. However, he refuses to give up, so the village chief has no choice but to let him do what he wants.

The eighteen-year-old was from a foreigner. His surname was Fang and his given name was Fang Yun. His family was poor and he had only one older sister who was still unmarried at the age of twenty-one, just to take care of him. She had taken the exam twice but failed both times. She was joking with Li Ming in the school the day before yesterday.

"If I don't pass this time, I won't study anymore. I'm not cut out for it, and I won't be a burden to my sister anymore."

After all, studying requires you to be away from work. If you do farm work during the day and study hard at night, not to mention whether the effect is good or not, you can't compare with others who study hard day and night. First of all, your body won't be able to bear it.

If you say that the child is still young, about ten years old, and can't help much, then naturally let him study for a few years. But when he is old enough to take the boy's exam, his body will gradually mature and he will be considered a labor force. Moreover, it is the time for growth, and he will eat a lot. If he doesn't work, it is not something a family in Dongjia Village can afford to support.
In fact, even if a school was opened, not every household would send their children to study. Despite the village chief's repeated orders, they would only be allowed to try once. If they failed once, there would most likely be no next chance.

There are very few people who can study for as many years as Fang Yun and Dong Yan.

Today, the three of them were all seated on the oxcart. Aunt Yue, who had come to see Li Ming off, came forward and took out a lunch box. "Here are some pancakes I made early in the morning. Eat them if you get hungry on the way. Your father and I will be waiting for you at home."

Li Ming felt warm in his heart, took the lunch box, and whispered, "Thank you, Aunt Yue. Don't worry, I will definitely win!"

Aunt Yue seemed to want to say something, but the driver suddenly shouted, "It's time to get going. Don't delay."

Aunt Yue swallowed the words on her lips and just waved at Li Ming. Then Li Ming raised his head and saw Dong Jie under the willow tree not far away looking straight at him. Li Ming couldn't help but smile leisurely.

At this moment, the driver swung the whip in his hand and hit the butt of the ox.

"Moo..." The yellow ox let out a long cry, raised its hooves and walked forward, pulling the ox cart.

It rained last night. Now the oxcart was on the country road. The morning sun was shining, bringing with it the breath of nature, which was intoxicating.

The three of them were silent and did not speak. Dong Yan held a copy of "The Analects of Confucius" and moved his lips up and down, as if he was making a final effort.

But Fang Yun was different. His eyes were fixed on the sky and he seemed to be very relaxed. Of course, it would have been better if he didn't have a white cloth wrapped around his head.

Seeing this, Li Ming couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Brother Xiao Fang, how did you get this head?"

Fang Yun also studied in Dong Jie's school and was Li Ming's senior, so the two naturally had some friendship.

Fang Yun smiled and said, "It rained last night and the roads were slippery. I went out to fetch water and accidentally bumped into the well. Fortunately, it was only a minor injury and it's not a big deal."

Li Ming nodded. Looking at him again at this moment, he always felt that this Fang Yun seemed a little different, but he couldn't tell exactly what was different for the moment. He just watched him staring at the sky in a daze.

It took Li Ming a long while to finally react. Fang Yun seemed to be particularly confident today, and looked calm and composed, which was completely different from the insecurity he had suspected in the past few days.

Li Ming felt a little strange, but he didn't think much about it. Maybe he had finally come to terms with it.

The old ox staggered all the way to the county town. The twenty miles was neither long nor short. Fortunately, the driver was a savvy man and had a very accurate sense of timing. He arrived at the examination hall just before the test started.

The scale of the boy's examination was not large and was organized by each county itself. The examination hall in Yuanji County was set up in the academy in the county, which was not an ordinary academy.

It is a branch of the Academy of Literature. The Academy of Literature has an extraordinary status. Wherever there is a city, there must be an Academy of Literature. It is responsible for many important matters. When the president of the Academy of Literature is needed, he can mobilize the literary energy of the area. His status is no less than that of a local official who holds an official seal and can summon dragon energy.

"Get off," the driver said. "I'll be waiting for you under the third tree over there. When you're done with the test, come find me and I'll take you back. Don't forget me, especially you. It's your first time here, so don't get lost!"

The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties, an honest man in the village, and had a very good reputation in Dongjia Village. Over the years, whenever someone took the boy's test, he would be the one to pick them up.

At this moment, he specifically reminded Li Ming. After all, it was Li Ming's first time here. Seeing the magnificent scenery of the academy, and with a child's mind, it was inevitable that he would make some mistakes. Naturally, he needed more advice at this moment.

But Li Ming was naturally not an ordinary child. After nodding at him, he looked around and saw that the literary academy covered a large area, surrounded by green trees, exuding vitality.

Outside the walls of the Academy of Literature, there was a sea of ​​people, young and old, who were gradually forming a long queue under the arrangement of the servants, while their family members and the like were arranged further away.

Fang Yun laughed and said to Li Ming, "Let's go."

Dong Yan began to tremble. To be honest, Dong Yan's foundation was not bad. He always answered well when he was tested at home. However, he was like those people with pre-exam syndrome on Blue Star. He got extremely nervous when the exam came to a critical moment. He performed poorly every time, which was why he failed the exams repeatedly.

If he was really a blockhead and couldn't learn no matter how hard he tried, the village chief wouldn't have wasted his money. The main reason was that he clearly had knowledge, but he just couldn't express it when it came to the exam. That's why the village chief acted like this. He just hoped that one day he would get used to it during the exam and no longer be nervous, and maybe he would really have a chance of becoming a successful candidate.

Li Ming took a quick look and estimated that there were probably seven or eight hundred people on the scene, some of whom had already entered the examination room, and some were still on the way. If you really counted them, the number might exceed a thousand. However, this exam only accepted fifty people, which shows how fierce the competition was.

Seeing Dong Yan's pale face and poor condition, Fang Yun stepped forward and said comfortingly, "Don't panic, brother Dong Yan, as long as you perform normally, Tongsheng will be a piece of cake for you."

Dong Yan couldn't help but laugh miserably when he heard this. "But I don't know what's wrong with me. Whenever I come to this academy, I tremble all over and sweat profusely. It's okay now, but when the papers are handed out later, my mind goes blank. I've handed in blank papers for years. I really don't know when my father will give up the idea of ​​letting me study for a degree. I'm not cut out for it at all!"

After hearing this, Fang Yun didn't say much, but just persuaded them a few more times, and the three of them obediently joined the queue.

At this moment, someone nearby suddenly shouted, "Xu Gongwang is here." Everyone immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man about thirteen or fourteen years old getting off a carriage. The young man had a calm expression and was serious, without any childishness, and his steps were leisurely.

Behind him was a middle-aged man in a dark blue scholar's robe. The man and the young man looked about four or five points similar, which showed that they were most likely related by blood, which was indeed the case.

When the two got off the car, they seemed to become the focus of the whole audience, and everyone's attention was drawn to them.

Even the people around Li Ming were discussing them, wanting Li Ming to know who these two people were.

Xu Gongwang was the young man, and behind him was his father, Xu Wenjie. Xu Wenjie was already a Jinshi, and was no less qualified than the county magistrate of Yuanji County, but he did not hold an official position.

The Xu family is also a well-known local family in Yuanji County, and Xu Wenjie is the current head of the Xu family. If it were just this, others might shout that Xu Wenjie is here instead of shouting that Xu Gongwang is here.

Because compared to his status as the head of the Xu family and a Jinshi scholar, what is more important is that he is the father of Xu Gongwang.

Xu Gongwang was born extraordinary. It is said that when his mother gave birth to him, five-colored auspicious clouds descended from the sky and formed cloud fungus.

Xu Gongwang lived up to this vision. He had a photographic memory and was extremely intelligent since childhood. He knew a thousand words at the age of three, could recite poems at the age of five, and compose great essays at the age of nine.

At first, his name was Xu Yunzhi, which was in line with the celestial signs. Later, Xu Wenjie changed it to Xu Gongwang, because he thought that his child would have the potential to become an official.

Later, Xu Gongwang was met by chance by an idle scholar, who valued his talent and wanted to take him as his disciple.

The rank of a great scholar is even higher than that of Hanlin Wenzong. Even if he does not hold an official position, his fighting power is equivalent to that of a prime minister. His status is very transcendent. The fact that such a person is willing to accept a disciple naturally means that the future of the ten-year-old Xu Gongwang is limitless.

It is unknown whether the word "gongwang" can really be achieved!
They are certainly very famous, but the three of them are from small villages. They only read books on weekdays and rarely exchange information. If it weren't for the people around them talking about it, no one would have known where these two people came from.

At this time, the person standing behind Li Ming suddenly said to the person beside him, "I heard that this great scholar has a condition for accepting a disciple. Xu Gongwang must get the first place in the provincial examination before he can be admitted. To be admitted as a disciple, he must get the first place in the provincial examination. Otherwise, with Xu Gongwang's ability, he would have taken the provincial examination two years ago. He was suppressed by his father for two years."

The person next to him also nodded and said, "That's right. After all, Xu Gongwang was known as the Little Meng Ran, and he didn't become a Tongsheng until he was fourteen, which was a bit late."

When Li Ming heard the words "Xiao Mengran", he shook his head slightly. Fang Yun seemed to notice something, but he just smiled at Li Ming and continued to listen to the discussion of the people around him.

"Yes, Xu Gongwang was undoubtedly gifted, but he was far inferior to Meng Ran. Meng Ran was already a student before he was ten, and a scholar at eleven. He was a natural poet and wrote dozens of famous poems. It's a pity that he died young, assassinated by spies from the wizard and lich tribes. Otherwise, he would have been canonized in the future!"

"A genius when young may not necessarily be a genius when grown up. Don't you know there's a saying that a genius who doesn't grow up is not a genius? The person is gone, what's there to say?" Another young man in a gray gown said with a pout.

"I think we should focus on Xu Gongwang. Since he's taking part in the Boy's Examination, he's bound to be the top candidate. We can only compete for the remaining forty-nine spots."

Since it concerns their own quota, everyone couldn't help but sigh again.

Then a young man in green clothes said, "It would be great if I could pass the imperial examination. I'm not even twenty yet, and with the status of a Tongsheng, I can enter Guangyuan Academy."

"Hey, how old are you?" an older, sallow-faced man asked. "Could it be that you're under sixteen?"

The young man in green asked in surprise, "Although Guangyuan Academy is one of the ten great academies in Jeju, isn't it also true that anyone under the age of twenty can enroll as long as they are a Tongsheng?"

"Qualifications?" The yellow-faced man laughed and said jokingly, "Yes, we are qualified. We all have the qualifications to take the exam. How many of us are likely to pass the exam?"

The young man in blue was speechless for a moment, hesitating for a few times but couldn't say anything.

Another middle-aged man came to the rescue, saying, "You do qualify, but as one of the ten great academies, the admission standards are naturally higher. Generally speaking, except for the top scorers in each boy's exam who are recommended, all others who are able to catch the attention of the teachers at Guangyuan Academy are under sixteen. If you exceed the limit, there's still a chance, but it depends on your family background. Whether you can be selected, you can spend a lot of money and donate your background. After all, you are still a student of Guangyuan Academy, but..."

The man smiled and shook his head as he looked at the young man in blue clothes, which were not simple but not luxurious either. The meaning was self-evident.

The young man felt ashamed, but he could do nothing because that was indeed the case.

The topic ended here, and then Dong Yan seemed to relax a little for some reason and sighed.

"Our Dongjia Village hasn't produced a single scholar in these years, but even if we did, what good would it do? Even with the whole village's resources, I'm afraid it would be difficult to support a student to study for a scholar degree. Brother Yong, your family used to have some wealth, but it was your father who wanted to continue to take the imperial examinations, and he studied year after year to get to where he is today. Your mother was also exhausted from managing household affairs."

Having said this, Dong Yan seemed to realize that he had said something wrong and immediately kept silent.

Fortunately, Li Ming didn't care and just said, "This is all God's will. We can only blame ourselves for not being born well, so we must work harder to get a good background."

Fang Yun nodded and said, "Yes, in life, we can't just accept our fate easily. At least, we still have one chance to try, right?"

Then he laughed again, and this laughter was very contagious, causing Dong Yan to laugh as well. It seemed that this was the most relaxed time for him in all these years.

After all, his father had promised him before he got on the bus that this was the last time, and if he really failed, he could continue farming in Dongjia Village and still survive.

(End of this chapter)